Motor Accident Compensation in the ACT: MAI Scheme Benefits, Common Law and Time Limits

The Australian Capital Territory compensates motor accident injuries through a hybrid scheme under the Motor Accident Injuries Act 2019: no-fault defined benefits for anyone injured, and a separate common law damages track gated by a 10% whole-person impairment threshold or an alternative occupational-impact pathway.

The ACT's Motor Accident Injuries (MAI) Scheme has run since 1 February 2020, replacing the Territory's earlier fault-based compulsory third party insurance. It pairs a no-fault statutory benefits system, open to everyone hurt in a motor accident regardless of who caused it, with a common law damages track that only opens once an injury clears a real threshold. The two tracks run on different clocks and different rules, and confusing them is the most common way to misstate how the scheme works.

How the MAI Scheme works

The governing law is the Motor Accident Injuries Act 2019 (ACT), commonly the MAI Act, in force since 1 February 2020. It has two distinct chapters that matter for a claimant:

• Chapter 2, defined benefits. No-fault statutory benefits available to anyone injured in a motor accident in the ACT, "regardless of fault," subject to some exclusions.
• Chapter 5, common law damages. A separate track for a negligence-based damages claim, available once an injured person clears a whole-person impairment or occupational-impact gate.

The Motor Accident Injuries Commission (the MAI Commission), operating through ACT Treasury, licenses and supervises the MAI insurers, approves premiums, and oversees the scheme. Four private insurers currently write MAI policies in the ACT: NRMA/IAG, AAMI, APIA and GIO, under a community-rated model where motorists in the same vehicle class pay the same premium regardless of their individual risk profile.

Who is covered

Defined benefits are available to anyone injured in a motor accident in the ACT, regardless of fault or role. The Act's definition of "motor accident" is broad enough to capture a driver, a passenger, a pedestrian struck by a vehicle, or a cyclist involved in a collision; there is no closed list of covered road users. It does not matter who was at fault in the accident.

Some categories reduce or remove defined benefits: driving offences (a graduated reduction depending on whether the offence was a single or repeat instance), self-inflicted injury, injury to a person in detention, certain serious offences, and acts of terrorism. A motor accident claim also cannot be combined with a workers compensation claim for the same accident. Property damage is not covered by the MAI Scheme at all; it is a personal injury scheme only.

Uninsured or unidentified vehicles. The Australian Capital Territory Insurance Authority (ACTIA) is the nominal defendant. It is liable for an uninsured vehicle with a sufficient connection to the ACT, and separately for an unidentified vehicle, including a hit-and-run, once the injured person has made reasonable inquiries and a search to try to identify it. ACTIA is not liable, however, where the vehicle is actually registered and covered under another state's or territory's own CTP or accident-compensation scheme, since that person already has a scheme to claim against.

Time limits and how to claim

Two separate clocks apply, and they should not be conflated even though both run for a period of years.

Defined benefits application: 13 weeks, extendable. The initial application period is 13 weeks from the date of the accident, or from the date of death for a funeral or death benefit claim. A late application can still be accepted, with a full and satisfactory explanation for the delay, within a longer backstop: 2 years from the accident for income replacement or treatment and care benefits, or 1 year from the date of death for death and funeral benefits. The insurer does not have to accept an application made after that backstop.

Common law damages claim: 5 years, not 3. The ACT's general personal injury limitation period is 3 years under section 16B of the Limitation Act 1985. The MAI Act 2019 itself inserted a longer, specific limitation section for motor accident claims, section 16AA: a motor accident common law claim "is not maintainable if brought 5 years or more after the day the injury happened." A shorter 3-month window can also apply once a person is formally notified they have cleared the WPI or SOI threshold, which can shorten the practical window for someone who clears the threshold late in the 5-year period.

Process. After seeking medical treatment and obtaining an MAI Medical Report, notify police, reporting online or at a police station within 24 hours if police did not attend the accident. Send a completed Personal Injuries Application and medical report within the 13-week window to the MAI insurer of the vehicle assessed as most at fault; fault is used here only to route the paperwork to the correct insurer, since entitlement to defined benefits itself does not depend on fault. The insurer must acknowledge the application within 5 business days. A free government-funded advisory line, the Defined Benefits Information Service, is available to help with the process.

What you can receive: defined benefits

Defined benefits are available to everyone regardless of fault, generally for up to 5 years:

• Income replacement benefits, generally available for up to 5 years.
• Treatment and care benefits, generally available for up to 5 years.
• Quality of life benefits, a payment available once an injury is permanent and it has been more than 6 months since the accident.
• Death and funeral benefits, a lump sum to dependants and funeral cost cover.

Note that the "up to 5 years" figure above is how long defined benefits can run; it is a different figure from the unrelated 5-year common law limitation period described above, even though the two numbers happen to match.

Common law damages: the WPI and SOI gate

A common law damages claim under Chapter 5 is only available once an injured person clears one of two gates under section 239(1) of the MAI Act:

• Whole-person impairment (WPI) of 10% or more, assessed by an independent medical examiner or accepted by the insurer.
• The Significant Occupational Impact (SOI) pathway, available to an adult still receiving income replacement benefits, or a child still receiving treatment and care benefits, 4 years and 6 months after the accident. A confirmed SOI report deems the person to have a WPI of 10% and entitles them to make a common law claim even if their actual assessed impairment is lower.

A genuinely fault-free crash does not close off common law access. Section 256 defines a "no-fault motor accident," such as a driver's heart attack or hitting an animal, and then deems the driver to be at fault and to have breached their duty of care for both single- and multi-vehicle no-fault accidents. In practice, this means the real gate to common law is the WPI or SOI threshold, not whether anyone was actually negligent.

Once eligible, a common law claim can recover treatment and domestic care for as long as it is reasonably needed, uncapped unlike the 5-year defined benefits duration; income replacement, capped in the first 12 months at the defined benefits amount, then up to 100% of lost earning capacity plus superannuation, subject to a stated maximum pre-injury weekly earnings figure of $4,500. A separate head, loss of quality of life damages for non-economic loss, is capped at a maximum of $600,000, calculated from the whole-person impairment scale and any quality-of-life impact the court considers was not already reflected in that assessment. A common law award is paid as a lump sum, offset by benefits already received under the scheme, and these dollar figures are the regulator's currently published amounts; check the current figures before relying on them, since the Act indexes several of its benefit amounts.

Disputes

Defined benefits decisions go through a two-step review process. An applicant can apply to the insurer for internal review within 28 days of the decision; the insurer must decide within 10 business days. From there, an applicant can apply to the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal (ACAT) for external review within 28 days of the internal review notice. ACAT must not award costs against an injured person who applied in good faith with an arguable basis for the application, and the parties generally bear their own costs at ACAT.

Common law disputes run through the ordinary courts rather than ACAT. A compulsory conference between the parties is required before a claimant can start court proceedings, though a court can dispense with it for good reason, and a mediator can be involved.

Interstate accidents

An interstate CTP-insured vehicle causing an accident in the ACT is covered under the MAI Act framework: the interstate insurer effectively steps into the relevant-insurer role, and defined benefits are paid on that basis. ACTIA, as nominal defendant, is not liable for an interstate-registered vehicle that already has its own jurisdiction's CTP cover.

An ACT-insured vehicle involved in an accident interstate is a different scenario. Your MAI insurance indemnifies you for an interstate accident if another person is injured and you were at fault. If you are the one injured in that interstate accident, however, what you receive depends on the scheme of the state or territory where the accident happened, not the ACT MAI Scheme.

Work-journey accidents

A motor accident that happens on a work journey, driving for or to and from work, may instead fall under the Territory's workers compensation scheme. See our ACT workers compensation guide for how that scheme handles a work-journey claim.

At-fault driver consequences

An MAI claim is separate from the road-traffic consequences an at-fault driver faces. For demerit points and licence consequences, see our ACT demerit points guide; for penalties where alcohol was involved, see our ACT drink driving penalties guide.

For how motor accident claim deadlines sit outside Australia's general civil limitation rules, see our statute of limitations in Australia guide. For how the ACT compares with the other seven schemes, see our motor accident compensation in Australia hub.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make a common law claim after a car accident in the ACT?

Only if you clear one of two gates under section 239(1) of the Motor Accident Injuries Act 2019: an assessed whole-person impairment of 10% or more, or the alternative Significant Occupational Impact pathway available if you are still receiving income replacement or treatment and care benefits 4 years and 6 months after the accident. Below either gate, the defined no-fault benefits are your only recovery.

Do I need to prove the other driver was at fault to sue in the ACT?

Not always. Section 256 of the MAI Act deems the driver to be at fault, and to have breached their duty of care, in a 'no-fault motor accident' such as a driver's medical episode or a collision with an animal. This means a person who clears the WPI or SOI threshold can generally still bring a common law claim even where the accident was genuinely no one's fault.

How long do I have to bring a common law motor accident claim in the ACT?

5 years from the day the injury happened, under section 16AA of the Limitation Act 1985, which the MAI Act 2019 itself inserted specifically for motor accident claims. This is longer than the ACT's general 3-year personal injury limitation period, which section 16AA expressly carves motor accident claims out of.

What is the deadline to apply for defined benefits in the ACT?

Generally 13 weeks from the date of the accident. A late application may still be accepted, with a full and satisfactory explanation for the delay, within a longer backstop of 2 years from the accident for income replacement or treatment and care benefits, or 1 year from the date of death for death and funeral benefits. The insurer does not have to accept an application made after those backstops.

What happens if the at-fault vehicle is uninsured or cannot be identified?

The Australian Capital Territory Insurance Authority (ACTIA) acts as nominal defendant. It is liable for an uninsured vehicle with a sufficient connection to the ACT, and for an unidentified vehicle, including a hit-and-run, once the injured person has made reasonable inquiries and a search to identify the vehicle. ACTIA is not the payer of last resort where the vehicle is actually covered by another state's or territory's own CTP scheme.